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About Me

I am a working mother of two whose passion (besides my family) is books. I am an avid reader who enjoys all types of books, although I mainly read fiction. In addition to reading, I also love crocheting, knitting, cooking, running, and watching Penn State sports. Contact me: bookingmama@gmail.com
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What I'm Reading Now

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week I'm going to share with you three craft books that aren't just for kids!

Summary: This full-color art journal for moms and kids to color and draw together in is designed to be a sharing experience. Mom and child can write each other letters, draw what scares them, imagine what they want to be when they are grown up, color a scene using only one favorite color, whatever their imaginations lead them to!Mom and Me: An Art Journal to Share is filled with fun hand-lettering and artwork from Bethany Robertson along with creative prompts from licensed art therapist Lacy Mucklow.Mucklow offers up the best ways to communicate with a child through creating together; how to start an open conversation with your child; questions you can ask that will help generate thoughtful responses; and how to tailor the quality time so it's still fun and engaging for your child. -- Race Point Publishing

I probably should have featured the book MOM & ME: AN ART JOURNAL TO SHARE by Lacy Mucklow and illustrated by Bethany Robertson as a Mother's Day gift idea, but better late than never, right? This adorable journal is a wonderful activity for moms and kids to do together -- perfect for the long days of summer!

MOM & ME gives moms and kids the opportunity to share their thoughts for each other with places for handwritten letters, drawings, and more. The concept behind the book is that it might be easier for some kids to communicate through art rather than words. Each two page spread in the book includes a prompt to help get the conversation going, and mother and child can work together by drawing side by side. For example, one of the page spreads asks you to focus on the positive rather than the negative and draw something that represents happiness to each of you. Another one asks you to draw three things you wish for.

MOM & ME is adorable! There are cute drawings on each page that just beg for your child's (and your) artwork. This journal is a terrific way for you to bond with your child by communicating through art! Highly recommended.

Summary: Color and create your own personalized stickers!Stick it to 'Em is your invitation to play as you create customized stickers with sass! With just a hint of silly irreverence, this guide includes a list of colorful art tools in addition to easy drawing and lettering techniques and step-by-step tutorials, all designed to get your cheeky creativity flowing. You'll then be treated to more than 35 pages of stickers, including a selection of fully designed styles to use any way you like, a variety of stickers to color in, and blank stickers to create your own. Filled with tons of puns, wit, and wisecracks, Stick it to 'Em is your answer to getting through each day with humor and fun. -- Walter Foster

In addition to the pages of stickers that are begging to be colored, there are also some stickers ready for use. I have to warn you that a few of the stickers are more adult in nature -- they have ones with adult beverages like martinis and margaritas!

One of my favorite things about STICK IT TO 'EM is that there are some easy-to-follow instructions for making your own doodles. I love the ones for how to draw a cute cupcake as well as how to draw an adorable piñata. They also teach you a few things about different fonts and how to decorate them.

I think STICK IT TO 'EM is a new twist on the traditional coloring books and sticker books! It would make a great gift for the pre-teen or teen girl in your life!

Summary: Your hand lettering contains a little bit of you! It expresses what you have to say, and demonstrates your creativity in all your communications. In Hand Lettering A to Z, artist and author Abbey Sy has invited four international artists--Meg Hyland, Joao Neves, Tessa Go, and Lisa Lorek--to join her in designing all new alphabets for you to draw and use in many different languages.You don’t have to be a trained artist to master the art of hand lettering. These alphabets are for every skill level, and will suits any taste: colorful, or black and white, classic or just plain fun. It’s all about getting creative with the twenty-six letters and a little bit of you. -- Rockport Publishing

HAND LETTERING A TO Z: A WORLD OF CREATIVE IDEAS FOR DRAWING AND DESIGNING ALPHABETS by Abbey Sy is yet another great craft book from Quarto Publishing. I absolutely love this book and can't wait to try making a few cool fonts, although I'm not very artistic so it could go horribly wrong. The book promises that you don't have to be artistic to be successful at creating your own hand lettering, so I plan to test that!

HAND LETTERING A TO Z is a great book for those individuals who want to add a little pizazz to their handwriting. They have loads of cute alphabets, some easier than others; and terrific instructions for the best tools to use. There is also an Embellishment section in the back of the book that teaches you how to do those adorable little doodles as well as a showcase of gorgeous art ideas.

HAND LETTERING A TO Z might be better for an older audience. I have a feeling that a younger crowd might get frustrated with the detailed instructions. However, I do think this craft book is a great gift idea for teens and even graduates.

Thanks to the Quarto Group for providing review copies of these books.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!